Corruption

Jacob Sullum | 12.23.2025 4:45 PM

In September 2021, Albuquerque police officer Timothy McCarson arrested an intoxicated driver who had been hospitalized after he was injured in a crash. But McCarson never filed charges against the driver, and he explained why in a federal plea agreement last week: A local defense attorney, Thomas Clear, paid him $5,000 to make the case go away.

McCarson's guilty plea is the latest example of the corruption revealed by a federal investigation of a long-running scheme in which Clear bribed police to ensure that his clients would not be convicted of DWI charges. Two dozen people, including defense attorneys, Albuquerque police officers, and Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies, have been implicated so far, and a dozen have pleaded guilty. This "DWI Enterprise," as federal prosecutors call it, is the biggest law enforcement scandal in New Mexico's history. It goes back 30 years—a period during which Clear handled about 2,500 DWI cases.

McCarson's guilty plea illustrates the extent of the corruption, which allegedly involved widely respected, long-serving police officers, often in senior positions. McCarson, who joined the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) in 2006 and previously worked for the Las Cruces Police Department, had a law enforcement career spanning more than three decades. He served in the APD's DWI unit, where prosecutors say bribery was institutionalized and "generational," for 11 years before retiring in 2022.

McCarson was selected by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as New Mexico's Outstanding Enforcement Officer of the Year in 2019. After his retirement, he ran a consulting firm that was awarded a four-year, $1.2 million contract with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT). KRQE, the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque, reports that the federally funded contract involves........

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